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Air as Main Computer eg: on all night...

A

aussieinjapan

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 30, 2010
76
4
I use my iMac for email, web, youtube.com, iphoto, the odd iMovie and the odd handbrake movie. Its 4 years old now and recently the HDD sounds like an airplane is taking off - so time to buy a new system.

If I get the basic Air with 4gbs - Can i leave it on all night with the screen off ??
Will it get too hot if I leave it to do a handbrake encode ???
 
DJY said:
Can't see why not!
I've been doing that with my current (Rev B) MBA its entire life!
Click to expand...

Thanks DJY ! I was worried about the heat because I never did it with my ibook )the computer I had before my current iMac) and Im planning to keep this Air for as long as I can (possible moving back to OZ in the near future for a year).

Another question is to buy Applecare now or wait until just before the 1 year is up.
 
The only real difference between the new MBA and the current crop of MBPs (13" model) and the MacBook is the exclusion of the optical drive. Yeah the clock speeds are a bit slower but push comes to shove its nearly the same computer just in a smaller form factor and no optical drive.
 
maflynn said:
The only real difference between the new MBA and the current crop of MBPs (13" model) and the MacBook is the exclusion of the optical drive. Yeah the clock speeds are a bit slower but push comes to shove its nearly the same computer just in a smaller form factor and no optical drive.
Click to expand...

Oh i just realised that I didnt make myself clear SORRY . I am taking about the 11 inch - 1.4 base one ! the price seems right !

So the 1.4 - Would be alright for basic tasks ?
 
It will do all the things you mention with ease. Most of those tasks depend more on memory and hard drive speed than on the CPU. The flash storage is way faster than traditional hard drives and that's something you'll notice with everything you do.

The only thing you should consider is upgrading the RAM to 4GB. Since it's soldered onto the motherboard you can't replace it yourself later on. 2GB is cutting it close when you're multitasking. Even if you do nothing serious, if you have 10 apps running and a few browser windows with a lot of tabs, most of those 2GB are used up. Looking ahead, apps will always need more memory in the future, so even if 2GB is sufficient now, it might not be in a year from now. Upgrading the 4GB gives you a bigger safety margin in that respect, and also ups the resale value.
 
ImperialX said:
I think you'll find that it'll be even better than the iMac. It has an SSD after all. The failure rate is much, much lower.
Click to expand...

I still have yet to see that proven. I have a pile(10) of dead SSD's from T400's at my work.
 
C64 said:
The only thing you should consider is upgrading the RAM to 4GB. Since it's soldered onto the motherboard you can't replace it yourself later on.
Click to expand...

Can someone with the MBA verify this? I spoke with the Apple store and they said it IS user upgradable... then I called another store and they said it is NOT... lol. Who has one? Would be cool to have a definite...

Seems apple is shooting themselves in the foot not offering a 11" model with 4GB in their stores if that's the case.
 
bella92108 said:
Can someone with the MBA verify this? I spoke with the Apple store and they said it IS user upgradable... then I called another store and they said it is NOT... lol. Who has one? Would be cool to have a definite...

Seems apple is shooting themselves in the foot not offering a 11" model with 4GB in their stores if that's the case.
Click to expand...

the 11" has the RAM soldered on
 
iDave said:
I expect they will, and all the other configurations too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the advice ! Im going to order one right now from the Apple store - the 1.4 ghz base model with 4 gb ram and a 64 gb HDD.

If need be, I can use one of my external HDDs to save stuff on.

Thanks !
 
aussieinjapan said:
Thanks for all the advice ! Im going to order one right now from the Apple store - the 1.4 ghz base model with 4 gb ram and a 64 gb HDD.

If need be, I can use one of my external HDDs to save stuff on.
Click to expand...
Good luck with it! I'm thinking about getting the same. I'm not thrilled about having just 64GB of flash storage either, but it is what it is and I can't see spending an extra $200 to double it.
 
iDave said:
Good luck with it! I'm thinking about getting the same. I'm not thrilled about having just 64GB of flash storage either, but it is what it is and I can't see spending an extra $200 to double it.
Click to expand...

Yeah I feel the same ! Here it is 20,000 yen to upgrade to a 128. Anyway, Ive got some HDDs I can use.
 
Throw it on a sexy laptop stand like this one:

http://raindesigninc.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=63

Get yourself a keyboard, mouse, USB hub, external HD, and build yourself a sweet docking station.

The stand keeps it elevated to alleviate heat issues and puts it at a more appropriate level. I used a 15.4" MBP that was as my main computer for the past two years prior to switching to my 27" iMac and loved it!
 
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